A Servant's Concern
by Day Dreamer 62
Summary: I smirked at the enemy Servant's weak attempt at a surprise attack. The smirk quickly fell from my face as my Master sank to her knees. "Master!" Companion oneshot to "A Master's Concern". Set in Round Two of Fate/EXTRA. Rated T for language!


**DD 62: I got the idea for this oneshot after seeing a picture on Tumblr. It was so cute and adorable that I had instant inspiration. This is a companion to my oneshot, A Master's Concern. This by no means indicates that you have to read it first to understand this as chronologically this takes place first. Enjoy!**

**NOTE! The cannon name for the main protagonist is Hakuno Kishinami. If her name is every mentioned in this story, she will be referred to as such.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything else from the franchise. I do own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

My Master slept soundlessly not too far from where I sat watching her. I found it surprising that she slept so deeply considering what had occurred just hours before. She had been quite torn up after our first Elimination Battle. Perhaps she was too exhausted from her preparations this previous week to dwell on her opponent's fate. From what little time I've spent with her, I gathered that my Master appeared to be the kind of person that would linger on things they had no control over. A sobering thought considering I was very similar to that when I was a human. I chuckled to myself. It was very unlike me to think on my past. Something about this girl, about my Master, aroused feelings of nostalgia within me. That settles it; becoming a Servant was probably one of the worst ideas I've ever had.

I could feel my eyes growing heavy as the exertion from my battle began to take its toll. My eyes fell closed and I instantly gave my consciousness over to sleep. There would be more time to wonder and reminisce in the days that follow.

~xXxXx~

I awoke the next morning before my Master which was unsurprising. In the week before I had discovered that she wasn't what you would call a morning person. She almost punched me the first time I had attempted to wake her. By how much force she had put behind the punch, I was sincerely glad she had missed her mark. I was further amused by the fact that she had fallen from her bed and had been sprawled out on the floor due to the incident. She wasn't very happy with me that day.

Shaking my head, I stood and stretched my arms above my head. A quiet sigh escaped my lips after I heard my shoulders pop. I tilted my head from side to side and heard some more satisfying pops. Once that was done, I glanced over at my Master and scowled. She still lay there fast asleep without a care in the world. Angry or not, I was going to have to wake her up. Readying myself for anything, I cautiously approached the sleeping girl. My hand grasped her shoulder and I shook it lightly.

"Master," I spoke softly so as not to startle her, "it's morning. You need to wake up!"

Her face scrunched up in protest as her body and mind reacted to the situation. I kept a wary eye on her in case she decided to respond violently. Thankfully after a few more shakes her eyes fluttered open. She yawned and mimicked my actions from earlier. Her still sleepy eyes landed on me. A pleasant smile draped over her face.

"Good morning Archer. What's on the agenda for today; more training for our first Elimination Battle?"

"Second."

She gave me a confused look. "Sorry, what?"

"We have to start training for our second Elimination Battle."

She stared at me in silence. I watched as all the color drained from her face. The events from yesterday were finally affecting her. She gulped and looked away.

"R-right. We beat Rider and Shinji."

I nodded at her. "That's right; we defeated Rider and her idiotic Master. Which means we'll be assigned a new opponent sometime today. Keep an eye on your terminal for the announcement."

I got a slight nod as a reply. Judging by the expression on her face, she was still trying to grasp the situation. I couldn't completely fault her for reacting this way. She was a novice to war and on the battle field; because of this she wasn't mentally or emotionally prepared. It was demented of the Moon Cell to expose such a gentle and innocent soul to the brutality of the Holy Grail War. Of course I couldn't place all the blame on the Moon Cell; it was partially my Master's fault for entering this damned war. She may not have known what she was getting herself in to but now she was stuck. She had no choice but to follow the Moon Cell's rules and participate in its little contest.

My Master didn't speak much for the remainder of the morning. She went about her normal routine and sat through the boring classes that had been put together by the Moon Cell. Yet another demonic thing the Moon Cell had devised to put the Masters through. The bell rang signaling the end of class. My Master stood up with the rest of the students and various NPCs to leave. She glanced at the empty desk next to her and stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes clouded over with emotion as she stared intently at the desk her last opponent had previously occupied. I knew I had to say something to her in order to snap her out of this stupor.

I appeared next to her and gave her a pointed look. "There's a point here. A person who fights without a reason to is no better than a machine. But, Masters call forth Servants they're compatible with, and you summoned stubborn me. My unbending conviction is what made me a Legendary Soul, really." I looked her straight in the eye. "So you, too, must be stubborn." I reached out and patted her head. "So don't worry if at some point I get overbearingly stubborn. As for you, focus on not dying. There's no time to construct more elaborate of a motivation."

My Master considered my words. She looked to be deep in thought when her terminal let off a _beep! _She jumped slightly at the sound. After scrambling to get the device out of her pocket, she quickly read over the message that appeared. Her face paled at the message. It must be the announcement for the next contestants. I cleared my throat to grab her attention. She glanced up at me with her big, brown doe-like eyes. At my nod towards the door, she too nodded her consent. I went into my spirit form and followed my Master to the bulletin board.

There were no other Masters standing around the board so we were able to get to it with ease. My Master read over her name then looked at the one written next to it. As she read, an elderly man came up behind her and also looked at the board. He glanced at her. The feeling of someone's gaze on her must have finally dawned on her as she turned around to face the man.

"…Hmph. So you are the one who will be my next opponent." He regarded her thoughtfully. "You're green. Whatever you may think, you lack experience. That you have let your opponent's appearance shake your resolve is proof enough of inexperience. And your eyes…" He gazed at them before shaking his head. "…they are lost. You are beyond hopeless. Entering the battlefield in that state will prove…disastrous."

We watched as our next opponent walked away from us. I smirked at my Master's dumbfounded expression. I hated to admit it but the old man was right; my Master was green. Her inexperience affected both of us battle wise. I gave her what I considered to be a pep talk. She seemed to understand the point I was trying to get across, however, and with her new resolve she descended the stairs to head to the Arena.

~xXxXx~

I was slightly pleased with our next foe. He was noble, fair, and a seasoned warrior. Everything I had strived to be when I was alive. His Servant, on the other hand, was the exact _opposite_. He played dirty, acted without orders, and ignored his Master's explicit wishes. A despicable Servant to say the least. Not all of us were heroes in life though so I can understand having a hard time going against your nature.

The first day we had entered the Arena, the enemy Servant had placed a nice little trap for us. Filling the Arena with poison was genius but foolhardy. Not only did we get some information on the skinny man but we also discovered the nature of the two's relationship. The strain between Master and Servant was evident. A nice little tidbit we could use to our advantage.

My Master sighed with relief as we entered our private room. If just running around in the Arena wears her out like this, she would be in for a rude awakening if we made it to the next round. I couldn't overlook her enthusiasm to grow stronger though; she generally seemed to want to gain strength and to unlock my lost abilities. I felt her gaze on me and groaned cursing Rin Tousaka. That girl had been a pain in my own war, why did she have to cause more trouble in this one? My Master could have been blissfully unaware that I possessed a Noble Phantasm. That woman would be the death of us.

"If you wish to say something then do so and stop staring at me like I have a second head."

My Master jumped slightly at my tone. She pondered her words. "Rin said all Servants have Noble Phantasms and the fact that I couldn't use yours was abnormal. Did something go wrong when I summoned you?"

I was expecting her to straight up ask me what the name of mine was but she surprised me. Did she actually think it was her fault that I wouldn't use it in battle? In any case, I needed to clear up her doubts right away. "It has nothing to do with you Master. I think it would be best to wait and utilize my Noble Phantasm when the situation calls for it. Until we have to face an extremely powerful opponent, I will not use it."

"That makes sense I suppose." She gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry for bugging you about this."

I waved off her apologies and instructed her to get some rest. She did as I asked willingly. My Master was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. I chuckled at her. She may not be the most powerful magus here but she was certainly one of the most _interesting _ones. Our time together will definitely be anything but boring.

~xXxXx~

"I think this is the last artifact."

I nodded in approval. "Very good Master. Shall we return for the day or do you wish to train some more?"

She bit her lip. "Let's train for a little longer then we'll call it a day."

She spun on her heel and started towards an enemy program. I followed after her and we engaged every enemy we came across. At this rate I'll be strong enough to take down that old man and his sneaky Servant. I had to give it to my Master; when she trained she trained _hard. _We did what a video game fanatic would call 'grinding'. Sprinting through the Arena, we battled every available enemy then waited in a safe place for the Moon Cell to release more and did it again. I'm surprised the Moon Cell didn't stop making programs for us to train against. I guess it found it amusing how much effort my Master was putting in to getting stronger.

After a few more circulations through the Arena, my Master decided it was time to leave. Again she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It would never cease to amuse me how quickly she let sleep take her. With the three artifacts found in the Arena that were left behind by our enemy, maybe that strange girl, Rani, will be able to give us some more information on them. Normally I would object to my Master accepting help from others but I knew she wouldn't listen. I was right about one thing; she was definitely stubborn like me. That was the last coherent thought I had before drifting off.

~xXxXx~

Something was off. The normal chatter and daily mayhem of the school was all but absent today. Many of the other Masters seemed uneasy as well. They mentioned something about the first floor having a feeling of death. I could tell that this was starting to affect my Master as well. She may be ditzy at times but she wasn't stupid. Even she could tell that something was wrong.

This wasn't going to stop her, however, and soon she was headed down the stairs to the first floor. She had just set foot on the floor when the feeling of someone watching her overtook her sense. She stood still and barely moved a muscle. I was concerned that she had stopped breathing for a moment. I felt the presence of another Servant nearby, no doubt our foe for this round. I appeared before my Master with a stern look on my face.

"Master, whatever you do don't move an inch." She gave me a look that practically screamed tell-me-something-I-don't know! I ignored it and pushed on. "When I give the signal, we get the hell out of here." My Master nodded then took a deep breath. We made eye contact for a moment. Judging by the way her body was angling towards the Arena, I guessed that that was where she was planning to retreat to. "Now!"

She bolted before the word left my mouth. I hurried after her all the while feeling our opponent tracking us. We didn't stop once we entered the Arena. My Master kept on running and soon we had arrived to the big open room in the center. She stopped for a second to catch her breath. This was the exact moment our stalker decided to act.

"So called that! Thanks for being a completely predictable Master."

My twin swords appeared in my hands as I stepped in front of my Master to intercept the attack. The arrow he had fired fell helplessly to the ground. I smirked at the man's failed attempt to harm my Master. "Sorry pal but you'll have to do better than that to hurt my boss."

My bravado quickly disappeared as my Master collapsed to her knees. A small gash was visible on her arm. A sick expression crossed her face. There was a second arrow?! It was a _poisoned _arrow?! Shit!

My Master struggled to get to her feet. She looked like she was close to passing out. Gathering all the strength she had left, she began to run towards the exit. I kept close to her and kept an eye out in case the enemy tried something else. We finally reached the exit and my Master collapsed again as we were teleported away. I knelt besides her and inspected the wound. It was relatively small but since the arrow had been dipped in poison that meant nothing. My Master also looked at the injury.

"Are you alright Master?" I couldn't keep the concern from my voice.

"I'm alright. It doesn't hurt anymore and I think the poison stopped spreading when we reached the school."

"I apologize Master. If I had been more observant this wouldn't have happened."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault Archer. You couldn't have known what our enemy was planning."

She had a point but I still felt responsible. It's a Servant's responsibility to guard their Master with their very lives if they need to. As far as I was concerned, I had failed in my duty to keep her from harm. My Master didn't see it that way though; she didn't care that I had allowed her to get injured. She reasoned that I could have had no idea that the second arrow would be poisoned and to stop blaming myself.

"First thing tomorrow it's off to the nurse's office. We need to get you treated so that the poison doesn't hurt you anymore."

She yawned then nodded. My Master didn't need me to tell her she needed to get some rest. She trudged over to her bed and collapsed on it. She was asleep within seconds. Her breathing was slightly labored as her body tried to process the foreign substance inside her. I frowned in concern. I was certain she would not perish before morning but I was still worried for her wellbeing.

I sighed softly and went to my usual spot. Seating myself, I brought my hands behind my head and stared up at the ceiling. It was disturbing how much my current Master was affecting my emotions. Generally, I kept my emotions on a short leash but they seemed to go wild when she was involved. That wasn't a bad thing per se since trust was an important part of a Master-Servant relationship, but I wasn't entirely sure that I should feel _this _protective of her.

"Whatever," I muttered as I slipped into sleep.

~xXxXx~

My Master smiled gratefully at the NPC that was oddly similar to the Sakura I knew in my own war. She informed my Master that she needed to take better care of her body. Even though she was in a virtual reality, the strain she felt here would impact her body back in the real world, Sakura explained. My Master nodded at her words and waved as she left the room. Her hand fell back to her side and she was lost in thought again.

Before I could speak, the door to the Nurse's Office slid open to reveal a most interesting visitor, Dan Blackmore. He walked into the room with the intention of…something. I wasn't sure why he was here but I knew there would be a conversation between my Master and him if I waited long enough. I realize that I should have been more focused on ensuring my Master's safety but my curiosity got the better of me.

"I have destroyed the yew bow." Dan announced.

Both my Master and I stared at him in shock and confusion. He went on to explain that since the yew bow was gone, all traces of poison and any effects should vanish from my Master. He surprised us both again by using one of his three Command Seals to order his rebellious Servant to never attack without his permission again.

"I hope you know," Dan went on," that my Servant acted without any orders from me. I want nothing more than an honorable fight between the two of us."

My Master swallowed before speaking. "I-I understand, Sir Blackmore."

He nodded at her then proceeded to leave the room. I waited until he was gone then appeared to my Master. "Well, _that _wasn't what I was expecting."

She laughed. "Yeah, me neither."

"How are you feeling, Master? If what the old knight says is true then you should have no more poison in your system."

"I'm fine Archer. I think that Sir Blackmore was telling us the truth. He _did _give us some more information against him though. I'll have to look up more about this yew bow."

To say I was surprised is an understatement. Who would've guessed that this meek, quiet girl could be so underhanded when she wanted to be? I chuckled at my thoughts and at my Master. She cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What's so funny?" She demanded.

I shook my head. "Nothing Master." I held my hand out to her. "Shall we head to the Arena then?"

She nodded and grasped my hand. I helped her to her feet. We stood there for a moment, my hand still holding hers. Realizing I still held her hand in mine, I quickly released it and turned my head away from her to hide my embarrassing blush. She continued to look at me in confusion.

"Let's get going then. Lead the way, Master."

She stared at me a while longer then nodded. Turning on her heel, she left the room silently and walked towards the entrance to the Arena. I followed close behind in my spirit form. As I watched her, I made a promise to myself to never fail my Master again.

I intend to keep that promise.

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: And there you have it! I sincerely hope y'all enjoyed this oneshot as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you want more cute Fate/EXTRA oneshots, check out Twin Wavelength's "Fate A to Z. It's a bunch of oneshots we are writing together so check 'em out! Also, be on the lookout for my Fate/EXTRA multi-chapter that will be going up soon! I'm so excited to get that project up on here. Until next time!**


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